Legally Blonde: The Musical Begins Performances at Cohoes Music Hall

Playhouse Stage Company presents new production of the popular, high-energy musical comedy based on the 2001 novel and MGM Film of the same name

Cohoes, N.Y. (July 11, 2024) – Beginning tongiht at Cohoes Music Hall, Playhouse Stage Company opens a new production of the popular show Legally Blonde: The Musical. The production will play through August 11, with 7:30pm evening performances on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and 2:00pm matinee performances on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Playhouse Stage Company has been producing free, outdoor summer musicals at Albany’s Park Playhouse since 1989, and has been presenting musical theatre year-round at the historic Cohoes Music Hall since 2016.

Preview performances will be held on July 17 at 7:30pm and July 19 at 2pm. As of the 7:30pm press opening on July 19, complimentary tickets are available throughout the run for members of the media and local theatre press who wish to cover or review the production. Local new stations are encouraged to film footage of the performance.  To request tickets, please email Owen Smith, Producing Artistic Director, at owen@playhousestage.org. Production photos will be sent to the media on July 17, 2024.

Based on the 2001 novel by Amanda Brown, and the 2001 MGM film adaptation starring Reese Witherspoon, Legally Blonde tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl and Fashion Merchandising Major from Malibu who beats the odds and matriculates at Harvard Law School in a longshot scheme win back her college boyfriend. An inspiring tale of staying true to yourself, Legally Blonde is at turns touching, hilarious, and poignant. The musical, featuring a book by Heather Hach, with music and lyrics by Neil Benjamin and Laurence O’Keefe, won praise as a high-energy, fun, upbeat adaptation when it debuted on Broadway in 2007. The Broadway production was later filmed and broadcast on MTV, a first.

The Playhouse Stage production is directed and choreographed by the company’s Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director, AshleySimone Kirchner, who has been working with PSC since 2010. Musical Director Brandon Jones will lead the ten-person backstage band. Scenery is designed by Marc Christopher and fabricated by Upstate Scenic, costumes are by Minah Smith-Tucker, lighting is by PJ Davis, and sound is designed by Tommy Rosati.

As with previous productions this season, the cast features a mix of both professional and Playhouse Stage student talent. The cast is led by Selma Fabregas, a longtime PSC student and recent Shaker High graduate, as Elle Woods. Ms. Fabregas, who will join the Cortlandt Theatre Program this fall, won critical praise for her PSC work as Lily in The Secret Garden, Ilyse in Spring Awakening, and others. She and her fellow students are joined by an array of professional talent in principal roles, including Patrick Ryan Sullivan as Professor Callahan. Mr. Sullivan appeared on Broadway as Julian Marsh in 42^nd Street, Gaston in Disney’s Beauty & The Beast, and others, and has worked on tour and in regional theatres across the country. Longtime Playhouse Stage leading lady Molly Rose McGrath (Patsy Cline, Sweeney Todd, Ragtime) plays the comic role of Paulette Bonafanté, a salon owner who befriends Elle and helps her to find confidence in herself. Former Playhouse Stage student and recent Hart School grad Jon Maltz, last featured in the Playhouse Stage production of Head Over Heels, plays Emmett Forest, a kind and unassuming law school teaching assistant who takes Elle under his wing.

Tickets are now on sale at the Cohoes Music Hall and Playhouse Stage box office. Adult tickets are $35.00, with $25.00 available for Seniors (65 and older), and $18 tickets for children and students with identification. Tickets may be purchased online at www.playhousestage.org, in person, or by phone at 518-434-0776. In keeping with the original Park Playhouse mission, a select number of free tickets in prime locations will be available to claim on a rush basis for one hour, starting ninety minutes prior to each performance, and concluding one half hour prior to the performance. Audiences are encouraged to reserve paid tickets if they are able for this popular production.  More information about Playhouse Stage Company and its productions can be found online at www.playhousestage.org.   ###